Report: Shopping center industry Q4 profit rises 4.3%

New York -- A report released Thursday by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries and the International Council of Shopping Centers said that the U.S. shopping center industry’s net operating income for the fourth quarter continued to show a strong gain nationally, rising 4.3% year-over-year.



Total operating income of all U.S. shopping centers on a square foot basis rose 3.6% over the year-ago period.



For all of 2012, the U.S. shopping-center industry posted a 3.6% rise in NOI.



“Retail was the best performing property type in the NCREIF index for the fourth quarter, and the year,” said Jeffrey R. Havsy, director of research, NCREIF. “The strong returns were driven by improved fundamentals.”



By region, shopping centers in the eastern U.S. outperformed the others, with an 8.6% year-over-year gain, followed by the west, up 4.4%, and the south up a moderate 1.7%, while centers in the Midwest saw a 1.8% decline during the period.